Chap 2: A nice game of footy
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Dennis stomped out the building and into freedom in his usual gruff manner, and we greeted by his smiley, red headed best friend. "Minnie." He simply said and kept walking.
Scowling, she scurried up to him and nudged him sharply. "Oi! is that all the thanks I get?"
"tough menaces like me don't say thank you'' he replied with an air of superiority. Minnie simply scoffed, her feet pacing quickly against the concrete schoolyard. "Oi! Slow down! Dennis!"
"Why?" He stopped and spun on his heel, facing the tiny girl. She folded her arms. "We're waiting for a friend."
"What friend? You' don't have any friends!"
"Piss off!" she snapped, duly sickened by snide comments and glances of disinterest. "WALTER. Get out here!"
All of a sudden, his little head peeked out from the side of the large school building. Dennis broke out into a grin and cracked his fist. "Ah brill Minnie. I knew you'd cheer me up. A good duffin' is all I need-"
"No Dennis!" she stepped between them. "Walter is hanging out with us today."
"What..?" understanding remerged on his face. "ohhhhh I get it." He winked at her. "We're 'hanging' out with him today?"
"Dennis. When I say, hanging out. I actually mean, hanging out, I don't mean kickin' his face in" She sighed, as his eyes bore pure confusion. "Walter is coming with us to play football… in the park."
He blinked "Why."
Throwing her hands out, she felt exasperated, as if reasoning with a child. "Cant we just be… NICE for once?"
And he scowled so deeply and so cruelly that even Minnie nerves were set on edge. "No."
Seedy little Walter stood shivering a couple feet away from them, as if missing layers of insulation in the middle of a freezing winter. His body ached from poor anxiety. Minnie couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he and her discussed the possibility of socializing with him, but Dennis seemed to really not care. "Why would we actually play football with a weed whose legs weighs less than the football???"
"DENNIS!" she screeched, losing all patience and dragging him away by the arm and out of reach of Walters hearing distance. "Listen you bastard." She hissed, yanking him by the collar, "we're playin' footy with Walter because he's having a really tough time at home right now and he has nowhere else to go." Dennis swallowed hard, staring directly into Minnies fiery gaze. "u-uh ok."
"And we're going to be nice to him. Got that?"
"Got it." He replied obediently.
"Good." She let go and Dennis straightened himself up, and cleared his throat. "Alright then. Come on."
Walter looked up and squeaked in surprise, and Minnie motioned for him to follow as Dennis already made his way outside of the gate doors and onto the street. With uncertainty, he stood to Minnie's left as Dennis led the way on her right and they headed down the pavement and towards the Beanotown park.
The sun was out and people were scattered out on the street, bustling towards their own adventures. The trio passed a couple kids that were kicking cans against a garage wall. They motioned to Dennis. "hey! HEY DENNIS! MINNIE!" the blonde one called out.
"Alright Ball Boy. " he nodded. "Alright Benjy?"
'Yea" They grinned. You two comin' to the footy game tomorrow? Its us versus Bash Street."
"Wouldn't miss it." Minnie replied, knowing full well that the game would be anything but professional and the Bash Street kids would turn it into a full out wrestling match. She smiled sweetly. "Good luck."
"Yea. It should be fun." Ball Boy replied
Dennis broke out into a laugh when they parted. "They're really STUPID, aren't they?"
"A-are they?" Walter dared to squeak, and Dennis's eyes narrowed. "Yea Walter. They have no chance. Bash street kids are just going to beat them into submission."
He looked confused, "Then why are they playing?"
"Because they don't know that." Minnie explained.
"So…" he scratched his pale forehead with the tip of a delicate finger. "Why don't you tell them….?"
"Because we want to see it." Dennis snapped. "God Walt, don't you ever shut up?"
"He only said two sentences!"
"Minnie, why are you stickin' up for hi-" he was about to go on, but her raw and angry glare shut him up. Luckily, they had reached the park at that point. He headed for the largest oak tree and jumped up to a branch, reaching into a hole and removing a ball. "Hah. Knew it was still there." He tossed it down to Minnie and she deftly bounced it with her head.
"Alright, so whats the score now?" the ball went from her head to her knee and towards Dennis, who caught it and dribbled it around her, showing off madly and she couldn't help but smirk. "I believe it was around 6 to 2, you had 2."
"What!" her smile disappeared as her jaw swung open. "Are you completely mad? I got 7 goals!"
"You cheated." He replied simply and she growled and pulled her sleeve back, ready to give him a punch until Walter stepped in. "Um. Why don't you two just start over?"
They looked at him, as if they had forgotten he was there. "Alright." She shrugged, "the score is nil-nil. Walter, you can be in goal."
A wind blew softly through the trees that surrounded them. Her hair was vibrant against the green of the park, and Walter squinted slightly. "I-I don't know how to play."
"Oh bloody hell." Dennis's eyes rolled.
"Really?" she blinked. "But you're a kid. What else would you do?"
"I-I don't know." He adjusted his glasses. "I like to sew, I suppose…. and knit, and help my mother around the house-"
"Look Walt. Can you just shut up for a minute and listen. Footy is easy. It's a bloody easy sport. You just kick the ball into the net and make goals." Walter stared blankly and Dennis sighed. "Look. I'll show you." Dennis threw the dirty ball to the ground and kicked it to him. "Just stop it with your foot."
Walter blinked at it as if it was a radioactive. "It's dirty!" he jumped back before it could roll against his polished shoes. And Dennis smacked his head. Minnie giggled slightly, but covered her mouth so Dennis wouldn't see. "Here Walter." She gently took the ball and kicked it towards him. "It's not going to bite. Just stop it with your foot at least."
He did so, and Dennis took it. "See. Now bounce it on your knee." Walter was about to protest but a glance shot from Dennis shut him up. He threw it on his knee and tried to bounce it but, missed and fell on his ass and into the mud. Dennis roared out with laughter and Minnie's smile increased.
'I'm DIRTY." He wailed only to get a mudball slapped directly at his face. Dennis grinned. "See, mud doesn't hurt."
He sniffed, wiped the mud away, and then dared to scoop the googy brown substance in his hands. He looked at it, he looked at Dennis, and then he threw it directly at him.
There was a moments shocking silence, followed by Minnie's roaring laugh. "HE GOT YOU RIGHT IN THE SMACKER!" she giggled so hard that she collapsed to her knees. Dennis, shocked, wiped it away and glared directly at Walter. Trembling in the mud puddle, he looked a sight - his hair sticking up like weeds, his glasses perched diagonally on his face, and pastel blue shirt now sticking with twigs. He was stiffened, ready for the retaliation and was surprised when he realized, that Dennis was also laughing.
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Authors Note: Oh goodness. I haven't updated in a while have I? Can you believe its 5:20 in the morning? I just decided, an hour ago, that I want to update. So I did. And now I still haven't slept and other people are waking up for a morning jog or something.